Flashes of Brilliance in a Wasted Life

I really have no idea at this point why I am writing this post. It almost seems to me to be less useful than other things that could be written in this space. However, I do know when the Holy Spirit speaks something into my spirit and He definitely did this time.

I received a little distressing news today. You may remember Jon. He is one of the mighty men. (Sometimes Things Do Change, October 22, 2009). In fact, I used to print out the new posts after I had published them and Jon would proofread them. There were a lot of errors you never saw because he was very good at that. He was also a living testimony of how a person can change when confronted by Jesus. Jon is back in jail. I am not really sure of all the facts, but from what I have heard, he earned his way back. In fact, the word is that he is probably going back to state prison for some number of years. Jon originally came to the mission to avoid making what now seems like an inevitable trip to prison in the first place. He had already been there three times before, if I remember correctly. He had some flashes of brilliance while he was at the mission. He likely took more notes than anyone who has ever been in the program. He is a very intelligent man, probably more intelligent than this writer. He knows the right answers. So what happened?

I hammer and hammer and hammer the teaching about the tripartite nature of man into the men in my classes. It is of seminal importance we recognize how we gather and process information. We receive information from the world through our five senses, from God through our spirit, and from the devil directly into our minds. Then we have to process all that information and decide what to do with it.

The information we hear from the world is, by and large, what we want to hear. Seeing is not really believing either. We see what we want to see. I cannot remember who said, "Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see." It seems to be true. The devil is very good at telling us exactly what we want to hear. In Jon's case, I am imagining it was something like, "You certainly have a lot of stress in your life. You just need a good fix to take care of all that." Of course he would say it in the first person so we would think it was our own idea.

Jon had possibly the longest flash of brilliance in his life heretofore while he was in the program. His closest friends commented on the substantive changes in his lifestyle and way of thinking. He was doing the things he needed to do until he was not doing them anymore.

The thing about Jon is that he does have a good heart. To be sure, that good heart does lead him astray at times. He knows better. Then again, if we all did what we knew to do, the world would be a much better place. When you think about it, pray for Jon. He will inevitably have another chance to get it right. It is my considered opinion the devil targets the people who have the potential to do the greatest things for God. The end of Jon's story has not been written yet. The Holy Spirit suggested this title, but we have the opportunity to pray there will not be many more wasted years in Jon's life and the flashes of brilliance will come one after the other.